Handheld, gas-fueled torches, which ignite a source of fuel, such as butane or propane, by a spark generated by a piezoelectric igniter, create an intensely hot flame and are frequently employed as kitchen torches to caramelize sugar in cooking, such as when making crème brûlée. The kitchen torches may be marketed as food torches, cooking torches, or culinary torches. Use of such torches in the kitchen is not limited to caramelizing sugar. They can be used, for example, to melt or brown toppings on casseroles or soups, to melt cheese, to fire-roast or char vegetables, such as peppers, to toast bread or marshmallows, and to broil meats, such as steaks, as well as many other uses, both in and out of the kitchen.
Yet, as generally satisfactory as such kitchen torches have been, their usage has not been widespread for several reasons. One primary concern is that the flame produced by the torch is naked and exposed, i.e., it extends beyond the torch, and thus represents a kitchen fire safety risk, especially if the torch is handled by an inexperienced cook. In addition, the naked, exposed flame is focused and has a thin pencil shape. It is difficult and time-consuming, for example, in making crème brûlée, to evenly scorch a broad area of a custard base to form a uniform top layer of caramel, by repetitively moving a thin, pencil-like flame across a wide, upper surface of the custard base. In broiling steak, as another example, some areas of the steak may be burnt and colored dark, while other areas of the steak may be partially scorched, or even unheated, and colored less dark. Furthermore, if the flames of such torches are not properly adjusted, or are too hot, or are too fast, and/or if fuel combustion is incomplete, then certain foods, when cooked with such carburizing flames, exhibit an undesirable “torch taste” in which off-flavors and unpleasant smells are imparted to the food. This is believed to be due to uncombusted hydrocarbons.
Many of these foods have heretofore been cooked in conventional kitchen equipment, such as ovens, grills and salamanders. However, none of these pieces of equipment are handheld, and they are not readily portable or inexpensive, and although these pieces are generally available in industrial or professional kitchens, at least some of these pieces are not generally available in one's home or in amateur kitchens. Typically, such equipment has to be furnished with a hood, cannot be used to heat a small area, or a food that is already on a plate, and does not have a sufficiently high watt density to properly finish a low temperature meat.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to increase the usage, popularity and safety of such kitchen torches, especially by inexperienced or amateur cooks, to expedite cooking, to enhance substantially complete fuel combustion to avoid torch taste, to minimize the kitchen fire safety risk, and to rapidly and uniformly heat and cook foods over a broad area by infrared irradiation, rather than with a focused, pencil-shaped, narrow, naked, and exposed flame.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.
The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.